Hormone Harmony: Balancing Thyroid, Adrenals and Sex Hormones

Where the heck have I been?

So it was brought to my attention by sister, Alexis, that it has been almost two months since I have blogged. I checked and indeed it has been quite awhile. I hope that since the last post I made was about Ephraim falling off the changing table that no one assumed there was permanent damage! Little man is doing just great. We did have a rough patch over the holidays but he is back in fine form now. So, Since my last post was in November I will do my best to catch you up on the past 8 weeks.

First, Thanksgiving. We spent the day with my family and Michael’s. Everyone came to my moms for lunch and the Cowboys game and ended up staying well into the evening. For the first meal it was Michael, me, Ephraim, my mom, Michael’s mom (Kay), his brother and his family (Matt, Stacey and Taylor) and his sister Amanda. My sister, Jessica, was also there. Michael’s dad died six years ago so since that time his family has been grafted into mine for holidays. We feel really blessed that our families get along so well and hey, it makes deciding on whose families turn it is this time really easy. My sisters were with their husbands families for lunch, but everyone met up at Mom’s later that night. Here are some pics:

My contribution ... A Harvest Cake!

Our little family. My hair was bad that day. I look like I am in a beauty pagent.

Ephraim (sans shirt) feeding himself sweet potatoes.

The day after Thanksgiving we went and picked out our tree. We always get a real tree, although we seriously reconsidered it this year. We actually went and bought one at Hobby Lobby and then decided to return it. I figured we would just have to keep an extra close eye on E around the tree. He did great. The first tree we bought and brought home turned out to have a severely crooked trunk so we returned it and got an even better and bigger tree for the same price. (Shout out to Sutherland’s!). Usually Christmas is my very favorite time of the year and I can’t wait to deck the halls and all that. For some reason it just didn’t feel that way this year. Maybe it had to do with 70 degree weather. Anyway, here are some pics from around our house at Christmas.

The Den Fireplace

Fireplace in living room

The living room all decked out

Our Tree

Ephraim and his obsession

As many of you know, Ephraim was briefly hospitalized right before Christmas. He got the dreaded stomach virus that blazed its way across the whole country. It was brutal. He started throwing up on Thursday, December 18. I tried to keep him hydrated and took him the doctor. She prescribed Zofran for the nausea and told me to keep fluids in him. He refused a bottle with pedialite so we had to try and administer it through a syringe. He kept throwing it up faster than we could give it to him. We ended up in the emergency room on Saturday, the 20th. They made Michael and I leave the room while they put in an IV and a catheter. It was awful. We could here him screaming from the hall, but they said it was better that he not associate us with the experience. We came in after and he practically leapt into my arms. They gave him fluids, ran tests ( all clear) and sent us home. He did good the next day (Sunday) and we really thought we were in the clear, but he started barfing again Monday morning. At that point, I was done. Feeling totally defeated we called his pediatrician and she said he needed to be admitted into the hospital so we could rehydrate him. We found out then that he also had double ear infections. So we got to spend a glorious 2 day stay at Baptist Saint Anthony’s hospital in Amarillo. They kept us until December 24th and then discharged us that morning. Praise God we did not have to spend his first Christmas in the hospital. I know there were many families that were not so lucky.

We always spend Christmas Eve with my family at my Mom’s house. My sisters and their families are all there. It is one of my favorite times of the year. I love my family!

Ephraim and his cool present from Aunt Lex and family

Hawks and the shirt we got him. So, so true!

Boaz in his big truck!

Holland and her daddy

We spent the first part of Christmas morning just “us” as a family. Ephraim was still pretty weak and tired from his ordeal, but he liked his new toys. I look forward to many more Christmas Eve’s putting kiddos to bed and Mom and Dad staying up setting the stage for Christmas morning. Michael and I still have not made a decision about whether we will do the whole Santa thing or not. I figure we have some time.

Barely awake and what the heck is going on?

Toy take down

His face says it all ... "Enough with the pictures!"

Onto Christmas with the Neagles. We joined up with Michael’s family later in the morning. Ephraim was fried, so he napped through present opening and cousin Taylor was more than happy to open his presents for him! Thanks T!

Amanda, Taylor and Grammy

Later that evening, after some long naps, we were all back at my Mom’s for dinner. My mom makes the absolute best turkey and dressing ever! It is so good. We dream of it all year long. It is nice that we get to have it back to back for Thanksgiving and Christmas. We all stuffed ourselves. The kids played. And the little ones took baths in the kitchen sink and then crashed into bed. It was a great day!

Feeling better!Uncle Michael and his best buddy Boaz

Nothing better that a chubby naked baby!

Boaz let me do his hair!

Bronwyn and India and their endless play!

So that is about it for December. Michael was able to take almost two weeks off. Ephraim and I felt so spoiled having home all day. It tooK E about 3-4 days to fully recover, but once he did he has never slowed down. He has crossed some major milestones this week, but I will save that for another post. This one was too long already!

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About rachaelneagle

I am a 39 year old wife and mother.I have two children, ages 5 and 2. I am passionate about my family, God and getting healthy. I love to learn as much as I can about health and wellness and share that information with others.